Railway mail-exchange system.



A. HUPP.

RAILWAY MAIL EXCH ANGE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY3L1913.

1:50 ja afly 115 Patented Feb.8, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- A. HUPP.

RAILWAY MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31. 1913.

1,170,640. Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WWW

THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH 20., WASHINGTON. D. c.

ALBERT H UPI", OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RAILWAY MAIL-EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

1,1 resale.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT HUPP, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Mail-Exchange Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail exchange systems and more particularly to the means for receiving the mail from a moving car, this means being located along the railway. Associated with the mail receiving means, just referred to, are devices for holding sacks of mail to be caught by suitable mechanism carried by the car and delivered into the interior of the car.

The objects of the invention are to provide a simple mechanism of this character which is adapted to receive the mail from a car moving at liigh speed and bring the same gradually to rest by frictional resistance and without injury to the contents of the mail sacks.

Other objects and the features of novelty will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with panying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a transverse section through the receiving trough and a portion of a mail car, the parts being shown in operative relation; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the re ceiving trough and the crane platform.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates the roadbed of the railway, 11 one of the car wheels, 12 the side of the car, 13 the mailreceiving arm which is adapted to intercept the mail and to deliver the same to the interior of the car, and 14 is the basket for delivering the mail from the car. The car mechanism just referred to maybe of any suitable construction but is preferably as illustrated and described in detail in m copending application No. 771,041, filed May 31, 1913. a

Arranged along the roadbed parallel with the track is a mail receiving trough indicated generally by T. This trough has a bottom 15, the upper end of which is arranged so that it will be a few inches below the inclined bottom 16 of the basket which delivers the mail from the car. Ar-

ranged along the lower edge of the bottom 15 there is an upwardly inclined wall 17 which cooperates with the bottom 15 to form a groove G in which the mail sacks are adapted to slide, the bottom 15 as will be Specification of Letters Patent.

the accom- Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filed May 31, 1913. Serial No. 771,042.

seen from Fig. 1 being inclined downwardly from the car and the angle between the bottom 15 and the wall 17 being greater than-90, or an obtuse angle. From the upper end of the inclined wall 17 there extends a vertical wall 18, this wall being of suflicient height to prevent the sacks from passing over the same when discharged from the car.

The basket 11 is operated in such a manner as to deliver the mail into the trough T immediately after the basket passes the near end of the trough. Then the sacks strike the bottom 15 they slide diagonally into the groove G and then along this groove parallel with the track to a position of rest, the trough being made .of sufficient length to permit the sacks to thus come to rest with out receiving a severe blow or shock from any relatively immovable object. The contents of the sacks are thus not injured in the delivery from the car.

The bottom 15 and the walls 17 and 18 are supported by suitable frames which consist of posts 19 and 20 secured to sills 21 and braced by suitable diagonals 22 and 23. As will be seen from Fig. 1 the bottom 15 is secured to the diagonal 22 and the wall 17 is secured to the diagonal 23. The posts 20 extend above the posts 19 and carry a plat form 24 on which are mounted the cranes C. The platform 24 has arranged, preferably at one end, suitable stairs 25 which give accessto the platform for the purpose of loading the cranes C.

For the purpose of preventing, in case of emergency, the sacks from sliding over the upper edge of the bottom 15, I have arranged therealong a guard rail 37, and for the purpose of draining the water from the trough I provide a suitable opening 88 which extends preferably the full length of the trough at the lower edge of the bottom 15.

F mm the foregoing it will be obvious that the trough may be made of any desired length and also that any number of cranes may be located above the trough so that the quantity of mail which may be handled is only limited by the capacity of the mail Gil-1'.

While I have illustrated and described what I now consider to be the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that various details of the construction may be changed and therefore I do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown and described.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

In a mail exchange system, a mail receiving trough arranged parallel with the railway track and provided with a flatbottom inclined downwardly away from the track, and formed with a longitudinal opening extending substantially throughout its full Copies of this patent may be obtained for length, an upwardly extending back form ing with the bottom a groove or angle in five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

